We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ivan Caraulan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ivan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Learning a new profession is always a stress. Like dive in the unknown waters. You see the water surface, but you don’t know how deep is it. I was working as an engineer most of the time. And when starting to learn 3d art, it was a deep dive. More I learn, more questions I got on the way. All was new and unknown to me. Basic thing was very complicated for me, like the person with no artistic skills. But need to just walk, and you will come.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My short story. First of all, my speciality is far away from art. And from childhood, I understand that drawing is not one of my best sides. I have worked as an engineer in Civil engineering for over 10 years. In the end, It became boring for me. Just work to be able to live. Someday I was curious about 3d modelling. It started from interior visualisation to modelling some simple objects. I tried few 3d software like Sketch App, 3DsMax, and Blender (which I love the most), And I wanted to know if I could become an interior visualiser. But after a few projects, I realise this was something other than mine. You need to love what you do, and this kind of your does not speak with me.
So I start to dive deep into 3d modelling on Blender, with dreams of making models for games or movies. But I was not good to get work in that field. Fail again.
After some despair, one of my good old friends showed me the World of 3d printing and zBrush. Fantastic software! And it was like a blast for me! I was blown away by what great organic structures can be made and how easy (that’s how it looks). I found it amazing and started learning like insane. And it was not easy) Studying was tough for me, and my technician brain, as I said, needed drawing skills and artistic views, and knowledge. Also, the interface of zBrush is a nightmare for new users and counter-intuitive. But the more I try, the better result I get. I needed a lot time to adapt.
I was burned with passion for making something great that looks like art. It drives me to move forward. Every day when I fail over and over again. And it works. In a next few years, I studied the basics of composition and gesture and studied anatomy in a school for sculptors. Now I have some experience working as a freelance sculptor, and I worked with great people in Bestiarum Miniatures as a sculptor.
And I’m a founder of IonCraft miniatures. I make digital sculptures and miniatures for D&D Players and collectors. All model made custom at the request of the customers. Trying to make the best quality models as I can, so the client will get a great model in their army/collection. On this way I met wonderful people as a customers, who became good friends in the future. And it is great!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

To see people joy of having their idea made in “flesh”. And also for me to see how my creation is going to live. From pixels on the screen to physical model.

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

Interesting technology. It definitely had a potential. I have few, made out of my works.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dudevan7/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ioncraftminiatures
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacket-van-70b62a274/
• Other: https://boosty.to/ioncraft

Image Credits
Some of the sculptures made for clients